An American Tail

An American Tail
Starring: Cathianne Blore Dom DeLuise John Finnegan Phillip Glasser Amy Green Madeline Kahn Pat Musick Nehemiah Persoff Christopher Plummer Neil Ross Will Ryan Hal Smith Erica Yohn Release date: November 21, 1986 Country: United States Sequel: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

An American Tail is a 1986 animated musical comedy-drama adventure film directed by Don Bluth, director of The Secret of NIMH & The Land Before Time, and written by David Kirschner, Judy Freudberg, and Tony Geiss.

Synopsis

A young mouse named Fievel Mousekewitz (Phillip Glasser) and his family emigrate from Russia to the United States by boat after their home is destroyed by cats. During the trip, a fierce storm throws Fievel off the ship, and he loses contact with his family. Luckily, he manages to sail to New York in a bottle. There, Irish mouse Bridget (Cathianne Blore), an Italian mouse named Tony (Pat Musick), and a friendly cat named Tiger (Dom DeLuise) help Fievel search for his loved ones.

Why It Never Says "Never"

1. It was the very first Steven Spielberg cartoon and most notably started the legacy of Amblination.
2. The concept of the Russian mice moving to the United States is a good one.
3. It has beautiful and excellent animation that's on par with Don Bluth's other movies.
4. Extremely fabulous musical numbers such as "There Are No Cats in America", "Never Say Never", and "A Duo", as well as a beautiful score by the late James Horner, who would then compose Titanic, The Land Before Time, and, of course, Avatar.
5. The song "Somewhere Out There" by Linda Ronstadt and the late James Ingram is such a very nice, beautiful, and amazing song that it will bring you tears of joy. Have a listen!
6. A very emotional story that pays homage to immigrants, and proves that not all family movies have to be too light and innocent.
7. Nice voice acting from the likes of Phillip Glasser, Madeline Kahn, and Pat Musick.
8. A cast of likable characters, such as the protagonist, Fievel, and Tiger the Cat, voiced by the great Dom DeLuise.
9. The message of the movie about never giving up is so inspirational and empowering.
10. For his second feature film, Don Bluth manages to strike twice.
11. Magnificent photography.
12. Decent editing.
13. The film has a wonderful pace.
14. Some funny moments, as well as plenty of emotional and tear-jerking moments too.
15. The characters are brilliantly designed and also cute.

Bad Qualities

1. The plot can be predictable at times, and hard to follow.
2. The screenplay can be too standard.
3. Plot holes:
   • Warren T. is shown to be small enough to fit in a boot in the one scene, but in another (the Mott Street Maulers hideout) he's suddenly shown to be cat-sized (though this can be excused since it possibly reveals that he's actually a cat disguised as a rat).
   • If there's the Mott Street Maulers, how come there's Cossack cats from Russia instead of the former cat gang attacking the mice in one scene in New York?
4. It can get too dark and depressing for younger children, despite having a G rating by the MPA.

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